Dog Wearables (Live Streaming Dog Camera)

Introduction: Dog Wearables (Live Streaming Dog Camera)

This is a project of a live streaming camera I made with my friend Jeff for our Physical Computing Class at the VCU Brandcenter. It was inspired by the relationship five little girls I used to babysit have with my dog Borealis. I wanted to give them a way to see his adventures online now that we live in two different cities.

You can easily make adjustments and put it on your own backpack or turn it into a security camera.

You might want to reboot your Pi just to make sure that all the configuration settings are saved.pi@raspberrypi~$sudo reboot

Step 3: Setting Up Streaming

There are many different ways to set up a stream from the Raspi Cam, but the one that requires the least amount of worry about devices and browsers from which people will watch your stream is the Mjpg-Streamer set-up.

Before you do anything. Make sure your wireless dongle is connected to your wifi. Now we need to make sure you are properly connected to the wifi.

You want to make sure that your wifi connection is stable. If your connection is unstable your Wifi Config application will show you continually connecting and disconnecting. Streaming requires you being connected at all times so make sure you are using the best network (I used the hotspot on my phone and it worked great)

The application should also show you your IP address. Take note of it. You will need it later. It should look like this: 192.168.1.116

It will be useful for you to know that you can play around with options for the raspistill command (taking still shots), and you can do the same for raspivid command.

Simply type the following into your terminal:

pi@raspberrypi~$raspistill

or

pi@raspberrypi~$raspivid

Step 4: Creating a Local Host Tunnel

Now you have your camera streaming to your local network. This is great if you just want to use your RaspiCam as a local security network, but it will not allow you to view the footage if you are at work or out for a walk with your dog. The quickest and easiest way to change that is to create a tunnel from the internet to your local network, it will also not cost you a dime.

To accomplish this we used ngrok.

First type the following into your Pi terminal to start the GUI (the graphic interface on the Pi)pi@raspberrypi~$startx

Once your interface loads, open up a webpage and go to ngrok.com, then click on downloads.

From the list, select the fourth option. Linux/ARM

Now open up your Terminal on the Pi (you should easily find it on your desktop) and type inpi@raspberrypi~$ unzip /path/to/ngrok.zipHere the /path/to/ stand for the location to which you downloaded your file. I downloaded it to /home/pi/, which allows me to just typepi@raspberrypi~$unzip ngrok.zip

You are almost done. Do you recall the address you used to look at your stream in the local network? It should have been something like: 192.168.1.116:8080We will use this address to tell ngrok which local network it should be running the tunnel to. Type:pi@raspberrypi~$./ngrok 192.168.1.116:8080Make sure you use your local IP.

If you can't remember your local IP you can check it really easily through the terminal. Type:pi@raspberrypi~$hostname -I

The ngrok software will display a website address from which you can now watch your stream. It should look something like this: http://78a76497.ngrok.com

You can now send this address to whomever you want to see the stream you created.

Step 5: Putting It All Together

So now you have a working Solar panel and a working RaspiCam. You need to make sure that all of your parts are safely protected from the weather. For that we used Insta Morph. It's is a plastic that melts in hot water and is very moldable, but when it cools down it becomes hard.

We had a case for the Raspberry Pi from the Cana Kit, but if you don't have one, Insta Morph is a great little tool to make one.

Make a case for the RaspiCam. It is very gentle so make sure you use some felt of packing materials to protect the back of it in the case. It also helps in holding it tightly in it's case.

The ribbon strip that connects the RaspiCam to the Raspberry is very gentle. Make sure you build a sturdy case for it as well. We wrapped the ribbon connector around the Raspberry Pi's case and build an Insta Morph Shell around it to protect it. Make sure you don't kink the ribbon. It can cut the connection between the camera and the Raspberry.

It is a good idea to make a case for the PowerBoost and battery pack. We just used a simple small box and secured all the cables in place (that is especially important for a dog camera since they will be moving around, rolling in the grass and shaking their backpack).

Saw the Solar panel onto the top of the backpack to make sure it is getting plenty of sun.

If you chose to skip the Solar Panel, make sure to secure the Portable Charger. You want to make a pocket for it to, since you don't want it to fly around inside the pack and disconnect.

Now you are ready for some field testing.

Step 6: Field Testing

When it comes to working with dogs (and many humans too), make sure you field test before you publish. In my case, we run into a few kinks with how the parts were secured in the backpack and the solar panel not getting enough sun. So take it out a few times and see how it goes.

In the process of field testing, it might be helpful for you to create a command for your raspberry pi with all of the steps rather than having to type all of them into the terminal over and over again. If you want to learn how to do that, send me a message.

A quick and simple solution for all the typing... use the uparrow on your keyboard. It brings up the most recent commands you wrote out.

Hope you have fun with this one!

Comments

Great project, I tried it and it works well, but I have found that "ngrok address" changes every time when i run ./ngrok command in raspberry pi. Is there is any solution for this to make this ngrok address premanent.

There is some great research going on in several universities. Georgia and Florida have some impressive results. One dealing with nano structures that harvest energy from movement. The other creating exoskeletons for humans that will harvest energy off of them. Have you heard about the soccer ball project? it allows kids in 3rd world countries to produce electricity for their families as they are playing soccer. Pretty cool and wild stuff :)

He is perfectly mobile. I used a backpack made for dogs specifically, so he is very comfortable. My friends laugh that he actually gets a bit of a proud stride when he is wearing it.

As for the solar panel. I could charge it up and start the raspberry and the camera, but I have to do it in the sun or be really close to the sun (less than 5 minutes), so that part is a bit tricky. But the alternative power source works perfectly for walks.

The best solution is to charge up the portable charger... then use the power boost to continue charging it, while you run the power from the portable to the pi itself. This way you can keep on running the set up much much longer. A great solution for hiking trips.